FAO Energy Specialist, Dr Yakaka Maina, says fuel-efficient stoves and charcoal briquettes can reduce fuel consumption by 50 per cent.
These techniques promote energy savings and environmental sustainability.
Maina disclosed this during an interview at the FAO’s training session for 70 women leaders on fuel-saving techniques and nutrition on Monday, September 30, 2024, in Yola, Adamawa State.
The training, funded by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, targeted Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states to enhance food security and nutrition in the North-East.
Maina highlighted that the training equipped participants with fuel-saving techniques, including using less fuel, maximising heat transfer, and minimising energy loss during cooking.
“It also includes using lids to reduce heat loss and cooking time, steaming vegetables instead of boiling to conserve nutrients, and pre-soaking foods like beans and legumes to save time and fuel.
“Additionally adapting charcoal briquettes, which are clean-burning, cost-effective, and reduce harmful emissions.”
Maina emphasised that fuel-saving techniques and nutrition education were crucial in addressing food security, health, and environmental sustainability challenges.
She noted that traditional cooking methods using firewood lead to nutrient loss, reduced nutritional value, and harmful indoor pollution contributing to respiratory illnesses.
She said that by adopting these techniques, communities could enjoy a better environment, improved nutrition, and a higher quality of life.
This initiative, she said, was part of the “Emergency Agriculture-Based Livelihoods Sustenance for Improved Food Security and Nutrition” programme in Nigeria’s North-East geopolitical zone.
By Talatu Maiwada
